Japan is a nation where people are trained to be extremely considerate at all time from young. During my ten years in Japan, from time to time, I felt suffocated when these invisible accusation towards me. It is easy for a foreigner got caught when do something which is inconsiderate by Japanese standard.

Fukinshin means inconsiderate, now I just discovered that there is whole website dedicated for attacking people being “Fukinshin” on the Internet! They clearly take this into another level.

In the most recent earthquake in Kumamoto, some celebrities made donations of rather large sums of money and they mentioned that on Twitter. They became subject to attacks for “flaunting their wealth.”

Another celebrity wished misfortune to cease by posting a prayer on Twitter. Again, they were attacked for “suggesting that the earthquake was an act of god (and therefore suggesting that the people of Kumamoto somehow deserved what was happening to them. )

Being considerate to others is certainly a good trait, however even any good habit or instinct can cause great pressure when it becomes extreme.

There are so many different kinds of snack in Singapore . It is wonderful ! But as I foreigner here, I have little idea of what are those snacks and cookies are made of! So here is the funny little story.

In general, people are polite here, so I stopped by a bakery and intrigued by all these different local cookies and biscuits. As I was bewildering at what is inside it and which one to buy:

I asked the staff, a middle-aged women selling her biscuits , “what’s the difference between this one and that one ?” , pointing two different “Piah” She explained it, then I asked what is the difference between “pong Piah” and “Lau Poh Piah”.

She replied , to my surprise , “it would be very tiring for me to explain differences among all of my biscuits. As I have so many kinds. !”

I laughed, ” okay , I will buy this one that I have no idea what is in it” . But it could be a surprise ! 🙂

Today, I went shopping with my Airbnb guest in the supermarket. She liked ice cream and asked me which brand of the ice cream is the best in Singapore. I told her that I have no idea about ice cream.

She then picked up a Haagen Dazs, I told her that you picked up the most famous one . That’s the only brand I know! She didn’t know the brand ! She is from a small city northern Russian by the way .

Anyway, when we approached the cashier, there was another women lining behind us, she said to us, “can we buy these ice cream together, as they are in promotion, we get 50 percent off if we buy together! ” It came to me as a bit surprise, but my guest replied smiled and naturally replied,” why not ?”

So she gave my guest some cash and both of them get 50 percent off of the ice cream. Brilliant!

I will have to say this women is smart and outgoing. This kind of thing just won’t happen in Japan, where women is shyer and reluctant to talk to strangers ! This is one of things that I love about Singapore !

My colleague was telling me once you have kids, you better to have a car in Singapore despite its ridiculous price tag.

I have to admit that you need a car in Singapore here if you want to be convenient. Singapore’s public transportation, as I am writing now in 2016, is still far less developed than Tokyo.

My experience tells me that if I go from a place to another place where MRT is nearby in the city centre , taking a taxi or driving is still twice or sometimes three times faster than taking MRT, thanks to the road that is designed for car owners , the rich people. There are not many traffic lights and crossing for pedastrain .